Fort Lancaster, C.S.A.
Ozona, Crockett County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Site 33 miles west on US 90. Upon US surrender Texas Forts start of Civil War, made part Confederate far western frontier line. Occupied by 2nd Texas cavalry. On supply line to and from Arizona-New Mexico Campaign 1861-62, intended to make Confederacy an ocean to ocean nation. When regular patrols to guard supply trains and check Indian activities grew dull, life spiced by camp newspaper and nightly sport of shooting pesky coyotes. A memorial to Texans who served the Confederacy Erected by the State of Texas 1963
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Texas seceded and U.S. forts along the frontier were surrendered at the start of the Civil War, Fort Lancaster became part of the Confederacy's thinly held far-western line, garrisoned by the 2nd Texas Cavalry. It guarded the supply route feeding the 1861–62 Confederate campaign into Arizona and New Mexico—an ambitious bid to stretch the Confederacy from ocean to ocean. Between escorting supply trains and watching for Indian raids, soldiers passed dull hours with a camp newspaper and by shooting at coyotes.
Why it matters
The fort recalls the Confederacy's little-known western war and its failed dream of reaching the Pacific across the deserts of Texas and New Mexico.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related events
- · New Mexico Campaign
- · Arizona-New Mexico Campaign 1861-62
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Henry Street Hudspeth
Ozona, TX
Born in Mississippi and a captain of Arkansas cavalry for the Confederacy during the Civil War, Henry Street Hudspeth came to Texas in 1877 and settled in Crockett County by 1888, serving as county clerk. He and his wife Elizabeth raised five children, among them C.B. Hudspeth, who went on to serve in the United States Congress.
Smith, Samuel Theodore
Ozona, TX
A Louisiana-born Confederate cavalry veteran, Samuel Theodore Smith came to Texas in 1872 and settled in Ozona in 1891, where he became a builder of the young town's institutions — its first school, first courthouse, and Baptist church among them. He married Alice Crimm in 1876 and raised three children. His hammer and saw quite literally framed the civic life of frontier Crockett County.
Reagan County
Big Lake, TX
Reagan County was carved from Tom Green County and organized in 1903 as ranching and, later, oil pushed settlement across the West Texas plains. It honors John H. Reagan (1818-1905), an Indian fighter, surveyor, and long-serving Texas congressman who became Postmaster General of the Confederacy and later a founding force of the Texas Railroad Commission. The county seat moved from Stiles to Big Lake in 1925.
Upton County
Rankin, TX
Carved from Tom Green County and created in 1887, Upton County was not fully organized until 1910. It honors John Cunningham Upton, a distinguished Confederate officer killed at the Second Battle of Manassas in 1862. A land of cattle and sheep ranches, the county later saw oil wells rise across its range, and its seat moved from Upland to Rankin in 1921.